Camera

I really enjoy finding “new” things on my phone. Some things are worthless and silly, and some things are quite helpful. This action falls somewhere in between.

It is a shortcut-way to turn OFF the flashlight. But, let’s back up……

I use the flashlight on my iPhone a LOT.

I love having a flashlight in my pocket.

To refresh your memory, to turn on your flashlight, you just slide your finger up from the bottom of the screen. It doesn’t matter if you are on the home screen or lock screen. Just slide UP and you’ll have access to the flashlight. Tap the flashlight icon to turn the flashlight ON.

To turn the flashlight off, again, you repeat. Bring up the control center and tap the flashlight OFF.

The new shortcut trick lets you turn off your flashlight with one tap instead of two. (Yes, there are those people who crave this kind of efficiency.) I’ll probably use this, myself.

How to turn off your flashlight with ONE tap:

When your flashlight is on, and you want to turn it off, just look down at the bottom of your lock screen to the CAMERA icon. Put your finger on it, and slide up. This action puts the camera on, and turns your flashlight off.

Of course, now your phone is in camera-ready mode. Which would mean, if you are going to continue using your iPhone, you would have to go back to the home screen, anyway.

BUT … for me, (and I assume others as well), when I finish using my flashlight, I am usually in the middle of some sort of task (looking at the circuit breaker, finding something in the back of a closet, etc) and so I am NOT in a position to tap about my phone. This single tap-flip, will actually be a(n) (arguable) convenience.

In any case, useful or not, this just makes us a little smarter about our smart phone.🙂

Your Holiday Selfies just got more interesting. Unless you have REALLY long arms, you may find that your Selfies are often not very flattering ….. a little TOO close for comfort.

Now you can prop up your iPhone, and using the timer, step back a bit. This will allow you to include MORE folks in the photos, and you can include that backdrop for the holiday or travel. (What good is your selfie in front of the Colosseum if all you can see are your teeth? 😯 )

How to use the timer on your iPhone camera:

To use your timer, bring up your camera and tap on the clock icon which is up at the top of your screen. Once you tap on the clock you have options to use either a 3 second or a 10 second timer.

I remember (years and years) ago buying a digital camera specifically because it had this ability so that I could “catch” action shots at my son’s sporting events. And now, here it is, always available right in our pocket!

I’m guessing you might not know that you have this feature …. but once you do, you’ll be using it to get that PERFECT shot.

So how do you capture action with your iPhone?

Simply bring up your camera on your iPhone.

Aim, and HOLD DOWN THE CAPTURE BUTTON. Your iPhone will snap photos quickly. A Photo Burst.

Franklin Roosevelt, a victim of polio, was paralyzed from the waist down.

He went to great lengths to hide his disability. If someone caught him maneuvering himself in and out of a car, or walking a few steps, his security people would quickly confiscate the offending camera.

And so, any film of President Roosevelt walking is very very VERY rare. A new one just surfaced this week, donated by the daughter of the baseball player who did the filming.

Watching this, and knowing how successful Franklin Roosevelt was at hiding his disability, I couldn’t help but think how completely impossible this feat would be today.

Aside from the sad fact that he felt the need to hide it (thought it would make him look weak?) …… just imagine trying to pull this off in 2014. Impossible. It would simply be impossible.

It’s a good thing that Franklin Roosevelt attended that All Star game in the year 1937.

A similar event today would see an entire stadium filled with people with cameras in their pockets.

Over the last several years, “throwback Thursday” has become quite popular.

Although it is really supposed to be about nostalgia (like old photos), I thought I’d stretch the point, and occasionally post an old “how to” on Thursdays, for the benefit of the many new-device-users who have joined our blog.

Perhaps you’re wandering around the internet on your iPhone or on your iPad and you see a photo you would like to keep. Maybe you’ve just stumbled on a photo of a sailboat that is on your dream list, or a picture of an awesome cake that inspires you to bake and decorate.

How to Save a Web Image to your iPhone or iPad:

If you see a picture that you would like to keep, just touch the picture and wait a moment. A menu will appear with the option to SAVE the image. Touch SAVE.

You’re done. Yep. That’s all there is.

The image is now in your camera roll. To find it, go to your Photos app. Choose camera roll, and take a look at the last picture. There is your cake (or boat🙂 )

Another great way to grab what you see is to take a screenshot. This means that you will actually take a picture of the whole screen. Just put one finger on the on/off button, and your other finger on the home button. Push them both at once. Hold for just a second and then let go. Click! A picture of the screen is now in your camera roll. Now go to the Photos app > camera roll. You’ll find your screenshot waiting for you as the last picture in the camera roll.

I usually love all gadgets. I love my iPhone, my iPad, and my Kindles. Other tech stuff is fun too. I have some remote gadgets, step-counting gadgets and kitchen gadgets. I rarely meet a gadget I don’t like.

But I don’t like this one.

This is just plain creepy.

The Narrative is a clip on camera that you wear. It automatically takes a picture every 30 seconds.

The point? To create a “narrative” of your life. All the regular moments. The things you don’t remember… remembered.

I don’t want to be on either end of this device. I don’t want all those photos of …. ???? and I sure don’t want to be talking or working with a person who is wearing this little camera. I know I’d find it highly distracting.

(I suppose there is an argument to be made for wearing it to capture candid photos of your children, or maybe at an event …. I’ll go with that. But it’s the “all day” and photographing unsuspecting people that just seems yuchy. Bye bye privacy.)

You can read more about it in this article, and view examples of the photos that this gadget takes: